January 23, 2013 Deliveries Allowed To Uzbek Districts Inside Kyrgyzstan
by RFE/RL
Kyrgyz authorities have agreed to allow Uzbek trucks carrying food and gasoline to cross into Uzbekistan's Sokh and Shokhimardon districts.
The exclaves are fully surrounded by Kyrgyzstan's Batken Province.
A spokesman for the provincial governor told RFE/RL the deliveries will not begin until the Uzbek side makes an official request and documents the amount of supplies being carried.
The vehicles have been stuck near the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border in Ferghana Province for days because border checkpoints there were closed.
The two districts have been cut off since Sokh residents, mainly ethnic Tajiks, clashed on January 5-6 with Kyrgyz border guards over the installation of electric power lines to a new Kyrgyz border post.
Five Sokh residents were reportedly wounded by Kyrgyz border guards.
About 30 Kyrgyz citizens were taken hostage and released later.
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